Experiential Learning

Tartans are active learners! St. Margaret’s provides myriad opportunities for them to get their hands as busy as their minds, to explore, discover, solve problems and make a difference. Experiential learning at St. Margaret’s allows students to apply their learning in real situations and settings outside the classroom, immersing themselves into the work and taking time to reflect on the process and learning. We do this in service, outdoor learning, technology and STEM, and sustainability projects.

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Bike Build Service Learning Project

Grade 10 and 11 students, 238 in total, were given 100 boxes of bike parts by their teachers with the challenge to build them and find worthy local charities to donate them within 48 hours. Teachers provided oversight, guidance and advice to the students. From there, the students were on their own to organize, plan and go to work.

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Outdoor Classroom

St. Margaret’s Early Childhood Development Center’s Outdoor Classroom is a place where children can immerse themselves in nature, hone observation skills, practice persistence and cooperation, develop academic concepts and physical skills and learn problem solving skills and, of course—play and have fun.

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School Garden

More than where our students excitedly get their hands dirty and beautiful and delicious pesticide-free, vine-ripe tomatoes grow, the St. Margaret’s all-school Garden is a place of wonder, activity, lifecycle, exploration and discovery.

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Class Retreats

Retreats are an important, an highly-anticipated part of the student experience creating a fun, safe and rewarding passage for each class to come together in unique opportunities for character education, service learning, leadership, teambuilding, personal challenge and reflection, and foster social interaction, friendship and community among the classes and within advisory groups.

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Environmental Field Work in Central Coast

Combating California’s drought and reforestation was the focus of an experiential, nature-based trip to the Central Coast for Advanced Placement environmental science students. They applied their classroom learning to the devastation of the California drought on the native Monterey pine ecosystem through reforestation and preservation efforts needed in the area.

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Leveraging Pre-K - Grade 12 Experience

St. Margaret’s recognizes the unique benefits of a preschool through grade 12 school, and creates opportunities throughout the school year for all Tartans to spend time together working toward shared goals and engaging in experiential learning projects.

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Special Camp a Unique Service-Leadership Experience

Special Camp for Special Kids is a one-of-a-kind program providing a revolutionary educational and recreational summer day camp for youth with disabilities. In a one-to-one peer relationship with volunteer counselors, campers experience a host of traditional summer camp activities: including beach, Knott’s Berry Farm, and the San Diego Zoo trips.